Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture I. Public Opinion and effects in Voting Outline of Current Lecture II. Aspects on Voter AttendanceIII. Who is most likely to vote?IV. What affects a person’s vote choice? V. Another way to change policies (and the people associated with it) VI. Ways citizens show political protestCurrent Lecturel. Aspects on Voter Attendance...a. The government tries to make it as fairly easy so people will vote. A main requirement, however, is people must register to vote POLS 206 1st Editioni. Voter Registration- a system citizens must follow and register in an allotted time before election day, though the details of registration vary according to stateii. Motor Voter Act (1993)- States allow citizens to register to vote when they are getting their driver’s license (this only caused a small increase in voting, not as much as people hoped)b. Over the history of the United States, it has changed in who has been allowed to vote. Originally, it was only white males with property who were allowed to vote and gradually all adult citizens have been allowed to vote. c. Historical voting restrictions include:i. Literacy Tests- testing not just ability to read but also knowledge of the government, which especially put black people at a disadvantage due to poor educationii. Poll tax-have to pay money in order to vote, people would rather spend their money on other necessitiesiii. Grandfather Clause- exemption of certain level of peopleiv.White Primaries- parties only voted for a certain persond. Voting Rights Act of 1965-voting discrimination is officially illegale. Women and Suffrage-1920’s, 19th Amendment, women are allowed to votell. Who is most likely to vote?a. People with more educationb. People who are olderc. People who are Caucasian, but other ethnicities are more likely to vote if they have a similar higher educationd. Women (they tend to favor domestic policies)e. People who are married (Probably caused by several possible factors:they more realize their kids will be influenced by future policies, want the best interest for the community, some laws more affect married people)f. People who are part of a union (they rely on strength in numbers)lll. What affects a person’s vote choice? a. People tend to vote for their party (traditional approach), however this view is changing as people are now more voting on the candidate person themselves rather than just their party affiliation. So public image and characteristics of a candidate is becoming more and more important and so people are less looking at policiesi. People want to see candidates with a “good visual image”, specifically they want then to have such characteristics as integrity, reliability and competence. Also, they want a candidate that has a good personality and they can more identify with. b. People also have different reasons for voting a certain way, such as a candidate with more military experience or are for/against a certain policies. The candidates tend to not give definite answers or stands on particular issues so people will read into what they want to hear and not turn people away (plausible deniability)lV. Another way to change policies is ...a. Civil Disobedience- an illegal, public, non-violent way to protest the government in order to change something in the government (such as a law or policy)b. People associated with this are:i. Martin Luther King, Jr.- no longer see something bad and do nothing, do something to fix itii. Ghandi- “Be the change you want to see in the world”iii. ThoreauV. Ways citizens show political protesta. Petition the Governmentb. Rallyc. Facebook postsd. Talking to your friendse. Talk radiof. The strongest and probably most dangerous way of protest is
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